Aztecs Butchered, Ate Spanish Invaders- The Aztec empire left a legacy of art and violence that is still being discovered. the headline read.
And the link was something that played up the cannibalism even more.
I really don't know how to feel about this story.
OK, so I know how I feel about one piece of it. I'm not too thrilled with the way that the article frames cannibalism as the primary event and the resistance to conquest as secondary. In my mind, the reverse is a MUCH bigger deal. Why couldn't they have titled the article, "Aztecs Resisted Conquest." Yes, I know it's CNN and that's what they do, but seriously, I think there's some cultural bias at work here.
Think about it, the standard (and therefore Anglo-centric) history of the colonization of the new world that we're taught goes like this.
"The Aztecs were more hardcore than any other indigenous people. Then the Spaniards came and the Aztecs, who were smarter than their peers, were dumb enough to let the Spaniards just take over. Then, the Anglos came in and ran the Spaniards right out of town cuz Spaniards are dumber than Anglos. Which means the Anglos had the divine right to take over the rest of the New World."
Yes, this is oversimplified. But I think it speaks to one of the major ways that the conquest of the Americas is justified- because they welcomed us and let us take over the place. So seeing now that the Aztecs resisted conquest in some way complicates this line of defense so CNN reverts to the other classic line- the natives were savage and brutal.
Were they any more savage and brutal than their colonizers? Really?
So I'm excited to see this wrinkle, I'm excited to read about Aztec resistance because it's empowering in ways that make me uncomfortable because as much as I like to point out the Anglo repression of Latinos this story is not one of the Aztecs killing off Brits, it's about them resisting my ancestors.
If anything, this is a reminder that my people were some pretty shitty human beings. I'm not indigenous, I'm not even Mexican. I'm pretty directly descended from the Spaniards who were doing all this colonizing. So, this raises some uncomfortable issues in my head. Yknow? Like how can I be all against Anglo acculturation when, well, the Spanish were pretty rough in their own right?
This question of oppression and colonization, of the many layers and complexities of the issue is something I've been thinking more and more about since moving to New Mexico. In this place, I feel simultaneously more culturally at home and repressed than I have in any other location.
Here, I speak Spanish whenever possible, often to perfect strangers, regardless of where I am. Yet, I hear people I respect refer to the Latin natives of this place as "those people." Never mind that these folks are themselves bumping out the real indigenous people of this place, reminding me that no matter how at home I feel here, it's because my people colonized this place. Kinda like how Anglos feel most everywhere else in this nation...
It's strange, never before has my ability to move and function in different worlds been been as highlighted as it has been here. And I don't know how to feel about it. Most of the time, I respond with an ironic Anthony Bourdain-esque "Viva La Raza." Because, it simultaneously invites, isolates, confuses and comforts. It speaks concisely to the cultural bifurcation that living here causes.
But, if feeling this way is the price for living here, it's well worth it.